After months of delays, red tape, inspections and more delays, Vegetate opens tonight, bringing Shaw a sit-down restaurant that serves upscale meatless dishes that will even appeal to carnivores. (How about jerked tempeh with greens and a coconut jerk sauce, sesame-crusted tofu with bok choy and potato salad, or chili risotto croquettes?)

Don't all rush over at once, though. Reservations will be required for a week or so while the staff works out the kinks. There's also no beer or wine yet, thanks to a protest by the neighborhood's Shiloh Baptist Church. (Shiloh has complained about the liquor licenses of Vegetate and the nearby Queen of Sheeba Ethiopian restaurant, questioning the impact on the community.) With luck, Redd says, Vegetate will get approval to sell alcohol later this month.

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Shiloh church is being ridiculous in their efforts to stop Vegetate from having a liquor license. Surveys conducted by the neighborhood have shown that the number 1 desire is for restaurants and bars (but not nightclubs). The market is now ready for this and who blocks it? A church with most of its congregants living out in Maryland or Virginia.